Custom Search

A Bouquet of Garden Fresh Flowers

by Geetashree Chatterjee
(New Delhi)

As I take a walk early in the morning with my pet Mr. Snow Boot, Mother Nature opens her arms and hugs me. As I get drawn into her folds, the infinite within the bounds of the finite becomes visible and fathomable. I see the crystal dollops of dews shimmering on the lap of the silky green blades strewn with utmost care and love by the Lord and my heart swells with an odd amalgamation of sadness and ecstasy. I step closer and peep in to find the entire world ensconced inside the miniscule vessel glistening on the fronds. I stand transfixed by the hypnotic beauty of divine glory.

Quite similar is the feeling when I pick up Vimala Ramu’s third of the trilogy, Dew Drops, again published by Writers Workshop. It is a slim book of hundred odd pages containing fifty chapters off Vimala’s illustrious life. These are mostly blogs and articles uploaded and published on various sites and dailies which have been collated and compiled in this book

Each short chapter of one and a half page recounts experiences from her life which are a treat to read. These anecdotes remind you of your first day at work, the myriad responsibilities which gave you temporary head aches, the picnics and get togethers you have had with your near and dear ones, the first meal or delicacy that you ever tried to prepare and ended up in fiasco, and so on and so forth. Undoubtedly, these chunks of life, though seemingly mundane and insignificant, make you smile, laugh, cry, wistful, reminiscent at times and at others jolt you out of senseless slumber. In short, all the nava rasas of life are delectably woven in the chapters of this book as though an assortment of choicest and fresh blossoms is bunched together in a bouquet. Owing to her husband’s transferable job, Vimala has traveled throughout the country. The flavour of each place she visited has been well brought out in the stories.

The best part about her writing is that she steers clear of the negativities of life. The adversities she faced are also presented with such charming candour that the incidents become engaging read and it is the positive and optimistic side of the situation which gleams bright rather than the negative vibes which in nostalgia we so often have a tendency to wallow in. For Vimala there is no place for self pity or lugubrious musings. Every moment is joy of life and filled with sun shine. That is why reading her book I am infected with a surge of happiness and a feeling of nothing can go wrong in life and that every moment there is to enjoy and learn something afresh.

Like her other book Wind Chimes, Dew Drops also has the unmistakable mark of Prof. P. Lal – his calligraphy, his beautiful, brief note on writers workshop and how it works , its motto, its unassuming façade, its sky-high aspirations and achievements and the inspiration it has provided to many, many upcoming writers. Of course the last is not written in so many words but automatically felt as one goes through the after word realizing what a one-man-army-with-a-passion can do to bring in change in the world of publication and readership. The volume is hand bound in a colourful cloth jacket of snuff brown and gold.

I myself am a great fan of Vimala Ramu. I recommend her to every passionate reader. Though the book “arrived” by a stroke of good fortune at my doorstep, it is also available with www.printsasia.com/books/writers-workshop for on-line purchase. I am also given to understand that Mitrajyothi a Bangalore based organization for the blind has decided to record all the three books of Vimala Ramu i.e. Rain Song, Wind Chimes and Dew Drops into audio CDs under their project called “Talking Books” for blind students. The organization is going to share the audio CDs with many blind institutions and their library claims large odd audio readership.

Only a last wish – I’ll be overjoyed if Vimala ever thinks of weaving these sporadic chapters into a detailed and consistent memoir which will be any reader’s prideful possession and delight – a thick set to while the hours of leisure.